


like a dream come true

by taeyongslut (jackbumtrash)



Series: boys over flowers (multifandom-ish) [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coming of Age, English Lit. Major!Renjun, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, Hyuck takes photos - lots of them, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee Are Best Friends, Light Angst, M/M, Mentioned Na Jaemin, Music Production Major!Mark, Photography Major!Haechan, Songfic, Unrequited Love, hyuck is a softie, hyuckie's also in looooove, idk man i tried, if ur here for markhyuck... escape while u still can lmaooo (soz not soz), injunnie's a romantic i think???, mark is a softie, photo albums, renjun's the softest, you'll see cuz i use "soft" excessively whenever and wherever injunnie's mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-17 18:26:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17565698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackbumtrash/pseuds/taeyongslut
Summary: Heliotropes, huh? He thought.No wonder. Didn’t they signify eternal love?Donghyuck chuckled sarcastically to himself, not only out of all the flowers he could’ve coughed out was it a heliotrope, but also out of all the people he could have coughed it out for was Mark. Mark Minhyung Lee.To think about it, Donghyuck probably even saw it coming.~//title from when we were young by adele~





	like a dream come true

**Author's Note:**

> i was sad cuz i was going thru one of my usual harrowing bouts of sadness and dysphoria and then i became sadder once i visited my drafts bc i have like 30+ ideas there just lying around in the dust and zero creativity/capability to bring them to life. so this is one such attempt w one of those ideas ft. one of my favourite ships.  
> (not so) fun fact: this entire thing was written as i was listening to adele's when we were young on repeat all day and all night long bc that song ugh  
> also this was supposed go somewhere (w the hanahaki direction) but it turned out going towards becoming a coming of age thing idk how, and i can't even say that i'm not happy w this bc i am actually quite happy w how this has turned out soooooo idk i hope u like reading this! enjoy!!  
> [this](https://kprofiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Renjun1-533x800.jpg)  
> [and this](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a4/94/7d/a4947dcf8e75d5ec12eff42f3b17f9f6.jpg)  
> is how i imagine injunnie to look like in this fic  
> [this](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0c/4f/57/0c4f5787c7a697a3467c044a894f24a3.jpg)  
> [and this](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/74/b2/f0/74b2f0fc958f73613030067c05609483.png)  
> is how i picture hyuckie to look like  
> [this](https://pm1.narvii.com/7069/1c8331dc00de17ed97bba9b2a8184ecda21de18ar1-1200-1800v2_hq.jpg)  
> [and this](https://scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/3159848fe83782290314f9537010b05d/5CB7BEFD/t51.2885-15/e35/c92.0.552.552/s480x480/47581841_310467332924491_3643540414324020608_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com)  
> for my markie poo  
> [and this](https://thumb.pann.com/tc_480/http://fimg4.pann.com/new/download.jsp?FileID=47155930)  
> for my baby boy nana <333  
> OH ALSO BIG P.S. THIS IS _**UNBETA-ED**_ LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE EVER BY ME IS. pls if there are any mistakes, awful horrible terrible ones pls lmk and i'll correct them english is like,, my third language and i'm writing this instead of sleeping my mum's boutta kick my ass pls have some mercy i love u and thanx

Donghyuck was not surprised.

Mark was adorable, the biggest dork, and the sweetest soul around campus, so it made sense.

Mark was also one of his housemates, and he looked the cutest in those sweatshirts he would wear around the dorm with his basketball shorts, his fluffy white socks, his prescription glasses, and his sweater paws; that Donghyuck truly was not surprised.

He was not surprised when most of his photography class assignments ended up having Mark as his model-slash-muse. He was not surprised when almost half of his portfolio was filled with Mark’s photos – a side of Mark’s face, his fingers around a transparent disposable cup of Iced Americano, his light wash Denim a part of the street’s view in Donghyuck’s vision.

He was also not surprised when the rest of his portfolio ended up being images of things that reminded him of Mark. Things that made him think of Mark and the times he spent with him. A greyscale polaroid of that thrift shop they frequented because that was all they could afford being middle-class college students, a very retro looking image of their favourite bench in the that park close to their dorms complex where they’d go to sit and chill when sometimes everything became a bit too much.

A sepia tinted image of the bakery they sometimes frequented to feed their sweet teeth, colourful balloons that Mark was always so excited about. That bookstore Mark and he would spend hours and hours in and lose track of time.

That field of blue heliotropes that he and Mark found on a good two hours’ walk away from the city just because. That was their thing, a lot of the things they did _just because_. No explanations needed because it was who Mark and Donghyuck were.

Donghyuck was rarely seen without his camera in his hand, or any other photo capturing device, and honestly, it irked Mark as much as it fascinated him. Mark was almost always seen narrowing his eyes at Donghyuck’s viewfinders whenever the younger boy brought them anywhere in his vicinity unannounced.

“Hey, Hyuckie, keep your camera away,” Mark groaned from the other end of the couch where he sat curled up into a thin blanket, lyric notebook in his hands, and a pen tucked behind his ear as he probably worked on newer lyrics, and as Donghyuck walked into his personal space with his polaroid camera.

“I’m working Mark, you should try that too sometimes,” Donghyuck snarkily replied as he himself plopped down on the couch, bringing the camera to his face and began pointing it in random directions in the room.

Mark pouted at Donghyuck, “you suck; you know that?” he grumbled, shutting his notebook close with the pen now tucked in between the pages he was working on, acting as a bookmark.

Donghyuck captured Mark’s pouting face on film.

“Hey!” Mark whined from where he sat, pouting harder, now with his arms crossed in front him.

Donghyuck took a picture of it too.

Mark, as he was now used to, only narrowed his eyes at the camera (and Donghyuck by extension).

Donghyuck stood with both the photos in his hands, waiting as they developed colour, and by the time they did, Donghyuck smiled because they turned exactly like he wanted them to.

Cozy, warm, _homely_.

He left the comfort of the couch, pocketing the photos on his way to the balcony where his other housemate, Renjun sat in some sort of a nest that he made by joining two of the plastic chairs from the dining area, surrounding himself with his blankets and pillows, steaming cup of coffee lying on the coffee table right on front of him, reading through his copy of whatever novel that’s part of his syllabus with him being an English Literature major.

Donghyuck took a picture of that scene too.

He was so grateful to have a good GPA in high school that landed him one of the best dorms in the whole complex, because not only it was amazing, and big enough, but it was also in its own way, beautiful.

Though, its beauty didn’t lie in the bare white walls, or the view of the city they could see from the fifth floor.

Its beauty lay in the plants lining the balcony, the ones that Renjun bought with his hard-earned and hardly-saved money. Its beauty lay in the photographs that Donghyuck spared just to tape them up on some white string and arrange it criss-cross on the empty walls. Its beauty lay in the fairy lights Mark wrapped around the photograph string because _‘it looks like a movie like that’_.

“You could’ve given me some sort of warning, Hyuckie,” Renjun’s soft, melodic voice floated and Donghyuck smiled.

He watched as Renjun closed the book, his finger bookmarking the page, and took a sip of the coffee in front of him.

He took another photo.

Then when Renjun finally turned his face towards him and beckoned him close, Donghyuck, ready with his weapon, took another shot. By the time Renjun hid his face with his copy of The Namesake, Donghyuck was grinning because he got the picture he wanted, anyway.

“You never stop, do you?” Renjun chuckled, soft, graceful, movie-like, and Donghyuck shot him a fond gaze as he walked and leaned back against the balcony railing, playing with the photo of Renjun that he took.

When he saw Renjun looking him in a way that was both fond and curious, Donghyuck decided to sing in answer to his rhetorical question, _“You look like a movie, you sound like a song . . .”_ and his honey-voice resonated in the apartment.

Renjun could only do one thing in response to Donghyuck’s singing, which was to stare at him like he hung the moon; and that is what he exactly did. Donghyuck continued singing, his eyes closed and head tilted backwards as he let the cool breeze wash over him.

When he opened his eyes, he saw not only Renjun, but also Mark staring at him. There was so much love in the gaze of both of his friends-slash-housemates it was almost overwhelming. Donghyuck brought his hand to his forehead, fingers ruffling his chestnut bangs that veiled his forehead, shyness taking over as he was stared at like he was the most precious gem.

When both of his friends gave him a round of applause, playful yet genuine, Donghyuck laughed shyly and covered his face with his hands. His friends cheered for him, though not very noisily because dorm rules were a thing Renjun was very, very, peculiar about; it still made a soft feeling bubble inside Donghyuck’s stomach.

“Stop you guys,” he rolled his eyes in that know-it-all way of his, albeit with a soft rosy blush present on his full cheeks, and it prompted a shake of his head from Mark, and a chuckle from Renjun.

Another click.

So it was to say, that Donghyuck was truly not taken aback when he realized they were blue Heliotropes.

Heliotropes, huh? He thought.

No wonder. Didn’t they signify eternal love?

Donghyuck chuckled sarcastically to himself, not only out of all the flowers he could’ve coughed out was it a _heliotrope_ , but also out of all the people he could have coughed it out _for_ was _Mark_. Mark Minhyung Lee.

To think about it, Donghyuck probably even saw it coming.

If the tons and tons of photographs he took of Mark, and had decorating his portfolio, scrapbooks, photo albums, and even their living area walls were not a tell-tale sign of his feelings for Mark, he should’ve focused more on the way something in his chest (or his stomach? He never fully knew, just focusing on the feel of it) churned and burned whenever he saw and heard Mark going on and on about his crush on Na Jaemin, one of the really pretty guys in Donghyuck’s year.

The fluttering in his stomach whenever he was as little as even close to Mark.

But no, that didn’t trigger Donghyuck’s coughing out petals. Of course it did not.

How could something as simple be _it_ for Donghyuck?

Donghyuck always felt the universe somehow had it out for him, so no wonder it wasn’t any different this time around.

“Hyuckie, I think I’m in love with Jaemin,” Mark whispered, two beers in. They were sitting at what they had deemed _their_ booth in the bar they sometimes went to, when they were free enough to drink and had money enough to pay for it. But not Renjun, Renjun didn’t drink. Renjun saved money to buy books and plants – cacti, succulents, the sort.

“And?” Donghyuck whispered back, taking small sips of his own beer. He wasn’t going to act like Mark wasn’t the most obvious puppy with his infatuation, or whatever. There it was, the unpleasant churning in Donghyuck’s gut again.

“And? Well? I don’t know, man. What do I do?” Drunk Mark’s words slurred into something unintelligible, but Donghyuck supposed that was what he was asking, asking for help with his feelings for Na Jaemin.

“You go tell him, Markly. Confess your feelings to him.” Donghyuck, ever so ready to help his friends in need, suggested, not self-preservative for once. His chest ached uncomfortably now.

“What if he doesn’t like me back, Hyuck?” Mark, in his drunk haze, leaned into Donghyuck’s shoulder, voice shaky, as if he was going to cry.

 _Why do I always have to fall for his cry-baby ass?_ Donghyuck wondered to himself. He was honestly too far gone by this point. It _sucked_ , it honestly _sucked so much_. Being so in love with his close-friend slash housemate who himself was in love with someone else, _sucked_.

“Who wouldn’t be in love with you, Markly?” Donghyuck asked back, more to himself.

“What?” Mark asked back in the softest tone Donghyuck had ever heard him use. It made his heart ache.

“I said he’d be an idiot to not like you back,” Donghyuck replied, taking another sip from his beer. The unpleasant feeling in his chest intensified as he did so, but he tried to convince himself it was the beer instead, burning his throat because it had been a while since he’d drunk.

“You’re just saying that, you don’t mean that a bit,” Mark mumbled, and Donghyuck would’ve missed it had it not been for Mark’s lips brushing his ear. Donghyuck shivered and deemed it best to push Mark away, lest both of them made a mistake that’d mean nothing to Mark but might as well just do Donghyuck in.

“Whatever helps you stall for longer, Mark,” Donghyuck scoffed and pushed Mark away from himself. Mark pouted at the loss of warmth, and all Donghyuck did to that was that he took his phone out and took a series of photos of Mark in the dim, colourful lighting of the bar.

“What are you doing?” Mark asked when it finally registered to him what Donghyuck had done, wide eyed and whiny.

Donghyuck decided not to grace that with an answer, instead choosing to stand up and drag Mark out of the bar, deeming that the elder had had enough. God knew what a lightweight Mark was, anyway. Mark whined the entire way from the booth to the bar where Donghyuck paid for both their drinks, and then proceeded to hail a cab.

The only reason they were not in a cab right now and instead walking the way back to their dorms was solely, and solely because Mark had whined, in that adorable voice of his, that he didn’t want to take a cab because cabs made him puke when he was drunk; and Lee Donghyuck was a weak, weak boy when it came to his Markly.

So here Donghyuck was, his own intoxication wearing off as he supported a clearly piss drunk Mark back on their walk to the apartment, with the latter using Donghyuck not only as a body pillow, but also trying to climb him like a tree.

They somehow made it back to the dorm with both Donghyuck’s sanity and Mark still in one piece, which Donghyuck considered a miracle because all throughout the way all Mark did was either act too clingy (which even Donghyuck himself could justify because that was just who drunk Mark was), or talk about Jaemin, Jaemin, Jaemin. Jaemin this, Jaemin that.

By the time they’d reached back and Renjun was making them both some ginger tea, Donghyuck felt like thanks to Mark, he now knew all about Na Jaemin. The other boy’s likes and dislikes, how he looked like when he smiled, how soft his cotton candy pink hair was, how much Mark would like to kiss him.

After he put Mark to bed, Donghyuck found himself on the couch with his head on Renjun’s lap as the older of them two sang him a lullaby in that soft, gentle, melodic voice of his, drifting off as he decided that he’d let it go.

That he’d let it all go.

_Fuck that shit._

He woke with a start when he felt Renjun lifting his head off of his thighs and placing it on the couch cushion as he began making his way back to his room. Renjun pat his head softly a couple of times to lull him back into sleep; and it worked too, but not for too long because soon enough (?) Donghyuck found himself awake again, a weird burning feeling in his chest.

 _The bathroom, fuck, I shouldn’t have drunk_. That was the first thought in his mind as the alcohol in his system ripped him a new one and he stumbled his way through the dark living area to his room, reaching the toilet just in time to puke into the toilet bowl.

After feeling like he’d vomited his guts out into the bowl, when Donghyuck went to flush whatever garbage was in there, his eyes caught a flash of blue. But in his current state, still half-drunk with a pounding head thanks to all the vomiting he just did, he ignored it.

That night he didn’t sleep very well, coughing every so often and feeling the vomit gushing all the way up to his throat and then going back down kept him up because of the disgust, and the discomfort, not to mention the burning in his throat.

Morning came, and with it the revelation that all night it hadn’t been Donghyuck just coughing, it’d been Donghyuck coughing out _petals_. _Actual flower petals_. From the looks of them, blue heliotropes. And so Lee Donghyuck was not surprised.

Not surprised that he was coughing out flower petals.

Not surprised that it meant he had the Hanahaki disease or whatever bullshit.

Not surprised that it was because he was just stupidly fucking in love with Mark Lee.

Mark Lee, who himself was in love with someone else.

It was as if post this realization – the realization that one) Donghyuck had Hanahaki courtesy of his feelings for Mark, and two) that Mark was in love with someone else entirely (Someone that was not Donghyuck – Someone that would never be Donghyuck) time passed by in a blur.

Or not.

It felt as though time was passing in a blur, as well as though time was at a standstill.

Everything Donghyuck and Mark did together seemed like a definite stamp on the pages of time and history, and yet Donghyuck lived those moments to the fullest – knowing that once Mark got together with Jaemin or even someone else, he wouldn’t get to have Mark like this anymore.

Their dynamic wouldn’t be the same anymore.

They wouldn’t be Donghyuck and Mark, who did things _just because_. Who went places _just because_. They wouldn’t be Donghyuck and Mark who didn’t need any reason, they just were the packaged deal that they were.

What Donghyuck hadn’t anticipated that while doing so – that is, while devoting his time and film to Mark as usual, as if the Hanahaki had just been a drunk dream, all he did to himself was make his disease worsen.

His coughs had gotten more frequent, much so that Renjun had actually threatened him that he'd physically drag him to the doctor’s if he didn’t get himself checked. Donghyuck had given him some pathetic excuse about some dust allergy that he bothered him since him infancy, which if he went by Renjun’s expression, the latter didn’t believe one bit.

Yet another thing that had happened during this duration was that Mark had finally confessed to Jaemin and asked the boy out, and the boy had said yes.

Mark had been the happiest Donghyuck had ever seen him in their two and half years together of being friends and housemates, and as much as he loved seeing Mark that happy; had that roused a very strong bout of coughing in the toilet (with a towel pressed to his mouth so that the sound wouldn’t be as loud) from Donghyuck? It had. Were there a lot of heliotrope petals? There were.

Before he knew it, it was Mark’s birthday, and Donghyuck was sitting on the barstool of some high end club they’d all saved up for, because that was they did every year for each other’s birthday. Renjun was sitting beside Donghyuck to give him company as Mark and Jaemin, tipsy, grinded on the dance floor together and the scene ended up being a bit too much for Donghyuck’s poor, lovesick heart.

“Are you going to dance, or are you going to keep sulking?” Renjun’s soft voice whispered near Donghyuck’s ear, and all the latter could do in retaliation was shoot Renjun a pathetic excuse for a glare, which the other laughed off airily.

“Come on, let’s show them we are better,” Renjun said as he grabbed Donghyuck’s hand in his and tugged it in the direction of the dance floor, and who was Donghyuck to deny Renjun’s wish? No one, which was exactly why he found himself on the dance floor with Renjun’s arms around his shoulders and his own arms around the latter’s waist.

Donghyuck would never tire of marvelling at just how _soft_ Huang Renjun was, how delicate. Not just in his personality, but physically too. The boy felt to the touch as though he was made of clouds, marshmallows, whatever was softer than that.

And boy was he graceful on the dance floor. Of course he hadn’t drunk a drop and so he was sober, and most of all in control of his actions, so he moved through the dance floor with Donghyuck wrapped around him as if the dance floor was nothing but wind and they were kites.

Donghyuck lost track of time dancing with Renjun, so by the time he was sobering up, the DJ had started playing some slow song, and his arms around Renjun just felt so right. Renjun’s fingers playing with the hair at his nape felt so right. Renjun, soft, delicate, beautiful Renjun so close to him felt so right. He wished he could take a picture of that moment without ruining the magic within.

Donghyuck would later blame his non-existent inebriation as being the reason why he leaned in and kissed Renjun.

Kissing Renjun unsurprisingly enough, felt like home. _It felt like a dream come true_.

Though Donghyuck did blame his barely there intoxication for making him have thought like those.

Kissing Renjun felt like it was straight out of those romance books that the older boy would read outside of his syllabus, shy smile on his face as he ran his eyes on the words that attempted to redefine love while trying to be different from the countless times it’d been described before.

Kissing Renjun gave him everything Donghyuck could’ve wanted from a kiss, safety, security, affection, warmth, softness, delicacy, you name it – yet it simultaneously was nothing Donghyuck ever wanted from a kiss.

Because one) It was Renjun he was kissing. _God. **Renjun**_. Donghyuck wasn’t supposed to taint Renjun with his- his- _whatever_ it was that made him so twisted. Twisted enough to love someone else but feel someone else’s kiss to be home.

And two) It wasn’t Mark he was kissing. _God. **Mark**_. Mark Minhyung Lee whom Donghyuck loved so much he was coughing out fucking heliotropes for him. Mark Minhyung Lee who loved someone else and was loved back by that person.

Donghyuck pulled himself away from Renjun’s lips with great _difficulty_ and a pounding head. Only then he registered Renjun’s thumb rubbing soft circles on his cheek. He slowly opened his eyes to meet the other boy’s, and Renjun gave him a look as gentle as always.

“I’m- I’m so _sorry_ Injunnie- I didn’t- It was-” Donghyuck fumbled to apologise, now completely sober and ashamed (though not as ashamed as his conscience wanted him to be), but he was brought to a pause by Renjun thumbing his bottom lip, motion tender and full of care.

“I’ll hit you if you say you didn’t mean it, and don’t worry about it, this was something we both needed,” the other boy’s tone did not allow any room for argument, and Donghyuck leaned into the touch, resting his forehead against the shorter boy’s, slowly swaying to whatever song was playing in the background.

“I’m so mad, Injunnie, you have no idea,” Donghyuck mumbled, wrapping his arms tighter around Renjun, resting his cheek against the shorter boy’s temple, humming along to the song playing in the background.

“I’m gonna miss this after we graduate,” Renjun whispered after some moments of silence. He backed his face away from Donghyuck only as much as to look the younger boy in the eyes. Renjun’s eyes seemed to search Donghyuck’s for something both of them couldn’t name, and Renjun went back to his previous position of resting his chin on the younger’s shoulder.

“I-” Donghyuck couldn’t even properly formulate what he wanted to say, instead opting to going back to swaying with Renjun to the music, and doing so until closing time was announced and they were walking out of the club, Mark and Jaemin in tow.

With Mark deciding he’d stay at Jaemin’s place and Jaemin being sober enough to handle him, Donghyuck and Renjun hailed a cab for themselves to take them to their dorm. Throughout the ride back, Donghyuck’s mind kept returning to the kiss between him and the boy who now leant by his side, head lolling on his shoulder, breathing inaudible but present.

Why had he kissed him?

 _Yeah, why did you kiss him Donghyuck? Weren’t you content fucking up one friendship, that you had to fuck this one up too? Why are you such a fuck up Donghyuck?_ His head ached as his conscience – or whatever was left of it truly – berated him to hell and back. It wasn’t like he wasn’t trying to find out the reason behind why he had done that.

He wasn’t drunk when that happened, and neither was Renjun, and Renjun let him kiss him.

Wait.

_Renjun let Donghyuck kiss him._

That was the one and only thought that spiralled inside Donghyuck’s head and hence the journey from outside of their dorms to inside Renjun’s room passed by in a blur. Donghyuck, sat on Renjun’s bed with his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees, proceeded to take some deep breaths because why was everything moving so damn fast?

“Here, I made us both some ginger-chamomile tea,” Renjun announced in a low voice, mindful of Donghyuck whose head was probably pounding (which it was) “it’ll help you with the hangover and also help us sleep,” he handed Donghyuck the cup which smelled to the latter's confused and alcohol riddled brain like heaven, and he whispered a thanks to the other boy before taking the cup in both of his hands, then took a sip of the herbal tea.

As Donghyuck took some more tentative sips of the tea, he felt Renjun move around in the room, and heard more than saw the shuffling of clothes which meant that the older boy was changing out of his party clothes into something warm, and comfortable.

Renjun was holding some of Donghyuck’s own clothes into his line of vision by the time the latter was finished drinking the tea in his cup. He shot the older a questioning glance alternating between the clothes and him, and Renjun shrugged, tossing the clothes at Donghyuck’s face.

“Everything you’re wearing smells of booze, and I’ll be damned if I let you in my bed while your clothes stink that bad,” Renjun deadpanned with a roll of his eyes as he walked around the other side of Donghyuck and climbed inside the bed, pulling the covers over himself, nudging Donghyuck softly on his lower back with his socked foot, a signal for the younger boy to get changed and get into bed with him.

Donghyuck obliged, the first thing he did being taking the cup to the kitchen, washing it and keeping it in its designated place before he walked back into Renjun’s room, where he changed into the clothes his housemate had brought him, which turned out to be a big purple sweatshirt of his, and a pair of his white boxer briefs.

Donghyuck lifted the covers once he was done changing into his lounge clothes, and Renjun screeched and snatched the blanket from him, “You’re letting the cold in, idiot!” causing Donghyuck to look at him with an affronted expression.

“Then how do I get in without letting the cold in?” Donghyuck exclaimed with a screech of his own, hands in fists perched on his waist, and Renjun rolled his eyes in exasperation before scooting a bit to the other side.

“Sit there, slip your legs in first, _don’t lift the blanket idiot!_ —” Donghyuck followed Renjun’s directions, getting scolded while doing so, and finally somehow managed to get inside the covers with minimal loss of brain cells on both of their parts.

Once he was settled comfortably in bed, his head resting on Renjun’s stomach and the latter’s finger combing through his hair, scratching his scalp, rubbing soothing circles into the skin, nails raking the surface carefully, it lulled Donghyuck almost into sleep.

But he had a lot to talk about.

“I can practically hear you think, Hyuckie,” Renjun laughed, while fingers of his other free hand pinched Donghyuck’s cheek, “I’m all ears.” He reminded the younger, voice full of reassurance, and so much understanding and affection Donghyuck melted a little bit inside.

There was so much that was wrong, where did Donghyuck even start?

A choked sob followed by sniffling startled the both of them, and it took Donghyuck some very long moments to realize that it was actually him crying out of the sheer frustration he felt because of everything that was going on with his life.

“It’s okay, Hyuckie, cry all you want,” Renjun cajoled him, petting his head softly as he wrapped his other arm around Donghyuck, pulling the crying boy closer to him, tangling his legs with the other. He let the younger sob and cry and whine pitifully into the juncture of his neck and shoulder, wetting it with tears and no-doubt snot.

“I just—” Donghyuck tried to speak, only to get choked up by his tears and resumed crying again, and all Renjun did was patiently comfort the crying boy in his arms.

Donghyuck tried to talk a number of times even after that, but every time that he tried, he ended up crying and sobbing harder, so he gave up on wanting to speak out his problems for a while and just gave in to sobbing all his frustration out.

He felt like he’d cried for two hours when he finally was able to calm down and breathe without feeling like he’d break into another sobbing fit, and softly apologizing to Renjun for the mess, he asked him for some tissues.

Renjun smiled in dismissal and leant all the way backwards to his nightstand to fetch the box of tissues he kept there, and handed the entire thing to Donghyuck, who not only wiped his own eyes and nose, and the rest of his face; but also wiped down Renjun’s neck and the mess he’d made there by crying.

Renjun giggled a bit when Donghyuck accidently wiped too close to his ear, “It tickles!” he gasped cutely, and Donghyuck wished he had if nothing else, then at least his phone with him so he could take a picture of it.

“You’re really pretty,” Donghyuck blurted out and immediately slapped himself mentally because _what the fuck are trying to do Lee Donghyuck, calling your friend pretty when you made out with him not even an hour or so ago and then you cried on his shoulder for another hour like a weak bitch?_

“In your defence, we didn’t make out, it was just a kiss,” Renjun supplied with a raised eyebrow, and Donghyuck blushed thermonuclear because _fuck me for thinking out loud_.

“I mean if you wanna, you’re literally in my bed right now, I’m sure we can manage that if you’re up for it,” Renjun trailed off with a nefarious smirk and for a second Donghyuck was truly terrified.

He’d only heard of _this_ Renjun, _this Huang Renjun_ who could entice anyone and that meant literally anyone into his bed, and now that Donghyuck was actually sitting in his bed witnessing _this_ _Huang Renjun_ , Donghyuck had a lot of feelings rising in a lot of places, but he couldn’t for the love of God move his mouth to form words.

Renjun cackled at his reaction, “Oh my God! Look at your face Hyuckie! You look like I’m Satan and I asked for your soul!” the older devilish boy laughed and clapped his hands as he made fun of his friend, and then calmed down only when Donghyuck whined that _Renjun you’re truly Satan!_

“Now if you’re done stalling, why don’t you tell me what’s been bugging you?” Renjun asked sternly then, taking Donghyuck’s hands in his own and bringing their conjoint hands to his lap. His hands were warm, and gave Donghyuck such a sense of familiarity and comfort that Donghyuck couldn’t have held anything in anymore had he even tried.

“Just, everything has been happening so fast, Injunnie,” Donghyuck took in a deep breath, “It feels like it was only yesterday that we were freshmen and now Graduation is barely months away; and I didn’t think I’d find such amazing friends in you guys but I did and I’m so, so scared of being far apart from you and I’m so scared of not seeing you every day and not being with you every day and every single thing is moving so fucking _fast_ —” Donghyuck exhaled deeply, Renjun rubbed his hands in understanding.

“Go on,” the older encouraged, as Donghyuck gathered his thoughts.

“And I feel like I’m growing old too fast and I still don’t know what I’m going to do after we graduate, much less what I’m going to do with the rest of my fucking life, and it’s all weighing down on me and as if that wasn’t enough I just had to fucking go and fall in love with Mark fucking Lee. Mark fucking Lee who loves Na fucking Jaemin and his love is reciprocated while I’m suffering from unrequited love and coughing out fucking Heliotropes for him and I don’t know what to do and I’m just so fucking tired, Injunnie. _I’m so fucking exhausted._ ” Donghyuck sighed at the end of his tirade, and Renjun let go of his hands and just hugged him close.

He hugged him for a good, long while, and Donghyuck sincerely felt at peace.

As if Renjun was the peace he’d been missing out on, craving all this while.

“I worry about the same things as you do, Hyuckie,” Renjun smiled that beautiful smile of his, “But I know that no matter how far we’ll go from each other, no matter if we’ll forget each other’s existences, we’d always look at the same sun and moon, and we’ll always have our memories, and the pictures you take to remind us who we were before we moved on and away with our lives.

“But you know what I’m focusing on now? It’s living all of these moments to the fullest because it’s just like what you said, we probably won’t ever see each other ever again, we probably won’t be with each other after this. I want to cherish all of this _right now_ , so that when the day comes that we become memories of and for each other, it would be a happy reminiscence.” Renjun smiled sadly as he said all of that, eyes glistening with tears he didn’t let fall.

Donghyuck bit his lip, emotions surging within him.

“I’ll say this from experience, Hyuckie, get the surgery. Love will definitely be better the second time around.” Renjun whispered, and before Donghyuck could question what he meant by _from experience_ Renjun’s hands as if on autopilot, reached up to his chest to rub comforting circles on top of the sweatshirt.

Donghyuck didn’t feel the need to ask anymore.

“Focus on the present, Hyuckie. Work hard, but play harder, okay? And if you want to tell Mark you’re in love with him, I’ll have your back. You don’t wanna do that, I’m still here for you. Just, don’t let this stress you out more than it should and overwhelm you, sad doesn’t look good on you. You’ll figure out everything when you’re meant to, okay?

“I have a firm belief that whatever happens in life happens at a time when it’s meant to, so you know what? Take your time with everything, Hyuckie, it might not sound like sound advice right now, but you’ll see that in the long run it isn’t very bad advice, after all.” Renjun told him, looking straight into his eyes, and Donghyuck nodded.

“I will,” He said, causing Renjun to nod himself.

“And please get surgery? Promise me you will,” The older requested, all but begging, and Donghyuck didn’t really know what to say to that.

So he did the only thing he could think of in that moment, Donghyuck closed the gap between him and Renjun and kissed the older boy. The elder welcomed the kiss, pleasantly kissing back and leant back so he landed under the younger; and so one thing led to another and then the only melodies Donghyuck could hear from Renjun’s pretty lips were _more, yes, please, more._

Finals passed away like the wind and Donghyuck felt hollow once they were over and done with, because the time and period of his life that he’d been dreading had finally come to him, so close it was wrapping around him the way the cold did when he went out and forgot to wear his jacket.

His first priority, the thing he did the moment finals were over with was getting the surgery. It was nothing major, just an incision on his chest, and the flower, root, everything was pulled out. A couple of stitches and he was as good as new. Renjun had been with him every step of the way, Mark not even catching wind of any of this happening because he was too busy with his happy love life featuring a certain pink haired Na Jaemin, and frankly, it didn’t even bug Donghyuck.

Not anymore.

The next thing that Donghyuck did to get his life in order was he took all the photos he had of Mark, made copies of those for future use and reference, and then compiled them all into as many albums as they needed to be filled completely with.

With Mark and his photos all separated from his belongings, he felt lighter, but nothing could have prepared him for how light he’d feel once he told Mark of his feelings that were once there.

Donghyuck took Mark to the café they’d frequented all these years, and that was where he gave Mark all the photo albums and scrapbooks containing pictures of him, and messages he’d scribbled alongside the photos. The look on Mark’s face was surprise, but he didn’t look unhappy.

“I didn’t know you had these many photos of me Hyuckie!” He gushed, turning the pages of one of the albums and smiling as he tried to recognize where every photo was from, and Donghyuck let him have his moment with the photos.

Only when Mark shut close one album and grabbed the other, opening it to the first page, did Donghyuck say anything – his confession, revelation, call it whatever, “You didn’t even know I was in love with you Markly,” he chuckled, a phantom tingling racing down his chest where the stitches had just recently been before they were taken out.

Mark’s movements came to a halt. “What?” he gaped like fish out of water and Donghyuck shrugged, letting it go.

“Golden words aren’t repeated, Canada,” Donghyuck replied sarcastically, taking a sip of his cappuccino, eyes looking everywhere but at the boy sitting in front of him; he felt like he couldn’t even face him after what he’d just told him, much less meet eyes with him.

“God, Hyuckie, I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” Mark stuttered, and God, though he wasn’t in love with him anymore, all feelings of romantic love for Mark gone along with the heliotropes in the surgery, Donghyuck still couldn’t deny how absolutely adorable Mark was, “I hope you got over that for your own good?” Mark asked, puppy eyes staring through Donghyuck’s soul and once upon a time, Donghyuck would’ve coughed an entire blue heliotrope for him, but those were gone for good.

“I did, thank the Lord, like, who’d wanna be in love with your lame ass, Markly?” He snarked, all fun and games, and Mark genuinely smiled back, happiness radiating from his face and frame.

“Whatever, fuck off you little shit, you wish you were as cute as me,” Mark sassed him back, taking a sip of his Iced Americano as he flipped through the page of yet another album that Donghyuck had given him as a parting gift.

The graduation ceremony was over before Donghyuck could’ve even registered going up on stage, taking his degree from the Dean and getting his picture taken while doing so. The next day most of them were leaving to their respective hometowns, and had early morning flights or trains or whatever means of transport they were going to take to make it back home after so long, but Donghyuck wasn’t one of them.

He was going to stay back in Seoul for a while, maybe work freelance until he finally figured out what he wanted to do with his life in the future, yet he went with both of his housemates to the airport to bid them goodbye.

He hugged Mark for what felt like the last time, but Mark smacked his back and reminded him that South Korea was Mark’s home too, and that he’d always come back. Especially when he had his best friend there, and Donghyuck challenged him saying he wouldn’t be in Seoul the next time Mark came back because who’d want to wait on lame ol’ Mark Lee, and got another smack from him in return.

Renjun hugged both of them and jumped to sneak a kiss on Mark’s cheeks with Mark shying away and Donghyuck taking pictures of that scene too, and then he went and kissed Donghyuck’s mouth, soft, slow, gentle, like everything Huang Renjun stood for and it made Donghyuck’s heart hurt in his chest.

He bid them goodbye, with high hopes for his future his only companion.

 

 

*

 

Or so he thought because less than two months later not only was he hired by a very big and very well paying company, he was also waking up to the face of Huang Renjun pursuing his Masters from Seoul National every day, and for that while, it made everything worth it.

 

 

*

 

“ _’Cause you feel like home, you’re like a dream come true,_ ” Donghyuck still sang, but he did so as he danced with Renjun in their living area, arms around the elder’s waist, lips brushing his, and the beautiful smile from his boyfriend was worth every pain he went through.

“ _You still look like a movie, you still sound like a song, my God this reminds me, of when were young. . ._ ” Renjun joined him in singing, the boy’s angelic voice mixing effortlessly with Donghyuck’s own honeyed one, and the love they felt for each other in the moment, they swore it was hard to come by.

 

 

 

 

 

_Oh I’m so mad I’m getting old,_

_It makes me reckless._

**Author's Note:**

> another (not so fun) fact: if i'd followed thru w the original idea hyuck woulda died ehehe ;3  
> i hope u liked reading this uwu  
> ur daily reminder that u r loved important and beautiful  
> i love u  
> bai bai for now~  
> kudos and comments make me v v happy so pls leave me some thank u x  
> my [twt](https://twitter.com/glitteryongs) and [cc](https://curiouscat.me/glitteryongs) in case u wanna scream @ or w me abt smth. 💌


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